WTO Agreements

The WTO is a system based on rules. Its trade rules consist of agreements that member governments negotiated. The Uruguay Round negotiations of 1986-1994 ended with the adoption of a single package of the WTO Agreements: “The Final Act Embodying the Results of the Uruguay Round of Multilateral Trade Negotiations” signed by the WTO members in Marrakesh in 1994 contains all legal texts agreed.

In addition to the agreements, the Final Act also covers texts of Understandings, Protocols, Ministerial Decisions and Declarations which further clarify certain provisions of some of the agreements. The Final Act was approximately 550 pages long! Since then, some agreements have expired, some have been amended and one has been added.

The WTO Agreements cover broad trade-related areas and define the principles of trade liberalization and exceptions from these principles. Individual countries’ commitments to lower tariffs and other trade barriers, to open service sectors for foreign competition, to provide high level of intellectual property protection are reflected in parts of these Agreements. These Agreements set procedures to settle trade disputes, provide for special treatment for less-developed countries, and ensure transparency from members by putting publication and notification obligations on them. 

There is one umbrella Agreement establishing the WTO and defining its functions, main principles, decision-making bodies and structure as an institution. This Agreement is known as the Marrakesh Agreement or the WTO Agreement. Other WTO Agreements are annexed to it:

There are 3 main agreements covering trade in goods, trade in services and trade-related intellectual property rights: 

12 specialized Agreements on trade in goods exist as of June 2018:

The Agreement on Textiles and Clothing which was a part of the original WTO Agreement is not in force since 2005. The Agreement on Trade Facilitation is the youngest WTO Agreement being the first multilateral agreement signed and entered into force after the conclusion of the Uruguay Round. 

Plurilaterals are the agreements to which not the whole WTO membership, but rather some part of it voluntarily joined and continue to join. There are 3 plurilateral agreements in force: 

Both the Agreement on Government Procurement and the Information Technology Agreement have been significantly amended after 2010.